True Blue Season 2 Premier
Reader Discretion is advised
After a brief pause, he put the two sticks of C4 next to his concoction and plugged a couple more spare wires that were left on the motherboard into the sticks of C4. He told Calvin to back away, and then asked if he could borrow Dwayne's phone, and then told him to get away from the live bomb. He plugged his number into Dwayne's phone and started running. He glanced down and whispered to himself "Oh Shit!" As he realized that he accidentally hit call on the way from the explosion to the 30-foot marker, he hit the dirt and waited. 5...4...3...2...1 he thought to himself and on zero a bang filled the quarry. He breathed a sigh of relief as he covered his head to protect himself from flying debris.
Calvin was watching from the specified distance and thought that something had gone wrong when James hit the deck. He took a few steps forward, but after a few seconds passed he saw the dust and debris fly into the air. Then, after a second he was hit with the shockwave. He exclaimed, "Holy Shit!!" and ran back. In the process, he tripped and fell down, and copied what James was doing. After the explosion, he rolled over onto his back and started laughing hysterically. A few yards in front of him James was doing the same thing because of the adrenaline that flowed through there bodies.
The both then scrambled to their feet and gave each other a bro hug and headed back to the warehouse. On the way back Calvin said nice work and good job.
They arrived at the warehouse and had dinner, they started talking, and then exchanged numbers as Calvin provided James a new phone.
***
Later that night, Detective Ramirez talked to the FBI operation manager that was running the ongoing operation from the Grand Rapids Police department, Tony about the additional person of interest that worked at the quarry where Ramirez had built the bomb. He also gave Tony a hierarchy of the organization that he was just about to get inside.
Included in this conversation was a run through of the tests that he had to undergo in order to gain Calvin's trust. Tony asked what the tests included and Ramirez talked through the firearms training and also the explosives building test. After that, the conversation ended.
***
The next day, James again woke up to Calvin standing over him with some ice cold water in case he did not wake up on time for the third test. Calvin escorted James out of his bed and then led him to the kitchen area of the warehouse. On the table, there were 3 identical meals. Those plates included scrambled eggs, with sausage and pancakes stacked three high, and a box of a poisoning agent in the center of the table.
His thoughts were running through about a million different scenarios, but that was quickly interrupted when Calvin spoke. "This next test is a test of wit. On the table we have three identical plates set out. One of the plates is poisoned. To add to the drama of this test, Andreas will be joining us for breakfast. Your job is to distribute the plates in a fashion that keeps, well, a majority of the people here safe."
James looked at the table and asked Roxanne to take the poisoning agent off of the table. He studied each of the plates closely and was interrupted again by Calvin adding, "The poison doesn't change anything either appearance or taste wise." After that Calvin left James to his decision making progress.
Disappointed, James continued to run through all of the different scenarios and started to whisper to himself, thinking out loud. He took note of how the plates were distributed and physically put the poisoning agent back on the table carefully, making sure that nothing spilled on to the other plates. Calvin studied his moves, intrigued by James' thought processes. After a good 20 minutes, deliberating different situations He had finally came to a conclusion that he could say with confidence. He decided that he would give plates one and three to Calvin and himself in that order, and then give plate two to Andreas praying that some miracle would occur, preventing Andreas from being poisoned.
He passed the plates out, praying that everyone would be OK, not even listing himself in the process. He took the first bite knowing that he would never make anybody do anything before himself. Calvin took the second bite, then Andreas followed suit.
Complete and utter silence filled the room while everyone was eating their breakfast. Roxanne at the ready in case something was to happen. All James could here was Kevin shuffling in his room, restlessly. After a long two minutes, he heard a fit of coughing coming from the direction of Andreas. He closed his eyes, and the coughing stopped, so he opened his eyes again to see everyone at the table was sitting upright. Relieved, He took a deep breath and then attempted to breathe out, but nothing was happening. He said a prayer inside of his mind thinking about what was happening, his stomach dropping at the realization that he had been poisoned.
He kept attempting to breathe deeply, trying to counter the poison that was pulsing through his veins. He tried water but that did not help. All he ended up doing with the water was cough it back up. Much to his surprise, Calvin called Roxanne over. She came over with a syringe in her hands, with what James could only identify as a potential anecdote. That was the last thing he remembered, as he passed out shortly after. A few minutes passed, and he came too, and the first thing he heard was Calvin, "Boy, You alright?"
James attempted to stand up and attempted to stand up and answered, "Yeah I'm -" then a bought of coughing interrupted his thought processes.
"Stay down you fool. You just poisoned yourself you crazy son - of - a - bitch. Stay down and catch your breath. That is the type of loyalty I like to seed in a team member. The family came first. Once you catch your breath. The next test begins at 4:00.
After a few minutes on the floor James got up and headed to his room in the compound and took a nap, even with a slightly sore throat, he got a good two-hour nap.
He eventually woke up and snuck through the warehouse. Keeping his eyes and ears pricked up, prepared for anything to cross his path, and to his surprise, no one was in the building except for Andreas. James looked up and made eye contact with Andreas and made sure that he would not mention his visit to Kevin. Andreas shrugged and Officer Ramirez continued moving forward keeping his head up and ears pricked up. The only noise that he heard was the faint roar of the air and heating unit across from Kevin's room judging by the noise.
After looking around the warehouse for any activity, Ramirez arrived at Kevin's room. He decided that he should start to get to know who he was probably going to end up breaking out of this warehouse. Not sure what to talk about Ramirez decided to start with the small talk. He asked, "How are you doing?"
Kevin answered, rather relaxed, "Pretty good given the circumstances. Just trying to keep my mind at ease. Just you know, wondering why I am still alive."
"Glad to hear that. That is a great thing to think about right now. You feeling OK?"
"Just a little sore," As Kevin said that Ramirez made notice of some of the scrapes that were up his arms, and legs. None of them seemed bad like they needed urgent medical attention. Upon further examination, however, that opinion quickly got scratched as Ramirez discovered a bandage on his right shoulder that was almost thoroughly red. "What are you doing?" he asked as Ramirez looked around for some large bandages.
"I am going to attempt to change your bandage so you don't get infected. How long has that gauze been on there?"
"A few days," Kevin answered.
"OK, I guess I will be changing that. Did they get out the bullet if there was one?"
"It's hard to tell. I do know it hurt like hell when Roxanne treated it"
Ramirez searched the main room in the warehouse for something too at least limit the pain. In the process, he did find some alcohol to at least limit the chance of infection, because he did have a lighter that he snuck into the premises.
"This might hurt so put this pen in your mouth. as I prepare for the worst. Please trust me and do not move."
"Thanks." Replied Kevin as he spat out the pen.
"So has Calvin done anything to harm you since you have been here?" As Ramirez grabbed a chair, turned it around, and sat down in front of him.
"Only asked some questions. They have fed me. Not a lot of water though."
Ramirez got up, headed out, and grabbed a solo cup and filled it with ice and water. He then walked back into the room. He set the cup next to Kevin.
"Thank you. Could you untie my left hand so I could drink?"
"Sure." Officer Ramirez did as he was asked but then added. "I will have to tie you back up before Calvin gets back."
"You have been so nice to me, but now it is my turn to ask some questions."
"Shoot."
"Why are you here?"
Officer Ramirez answered as well as he could. "Well. We saw some images giving us some good information on a potential terror threat at the other place. Have you seen or heard anything"
"Not really."
Getting anxious, Ramirez continued the conversation: "OK. Any other questions for me?"
Not worried about beating around the bush, Kevin asked: "How did you find out about Donavon?"
"Well, our assets within the Bureau decided that Donavon would be disposed of because of his mistake. You saw it happen didn't you?" He added as he noticed Kevin's eyes darken.
"That was a bad day here, so I would rather not say."
"I won't push, but you saw it happen. I can tell through your body language." As he said that Kevin's gaze dropped down to the table. Ramirez noticed that he had crossed a line instantly. "Sorry. I really do apologize."
"It's fine."
Officer Ramirez heard a car engine drive by where they were, so he said "I have to tie you up, and get rid of this pen and water cup if you are finished. Calvin and his crew have come back."
Kevin said, "Thank you again."
As he was tying him up James was realizing that This kid was completely different than what he first realized. At first, he seemed like a confident High schooler, but there were different layers to what made him, him. Initial indications showed that he was dealing with some confident kid, now seemed like as each day moved on, the stress seemed to be building on him. Eventually digging a hole that he would have to get out of at some point. Ramirez and the bureau had to act quickly before this swallowed Kevin whole.
As he walked out the door, James saw a flicker of hope shine in the kid's eyes.
***
James closed the door and ran back to the couch while on the way grabbing a snack and a beer. He settled in and looked up, getting his heart rate back to a normal pace. He saw Calvin, Roxanne, and another person that he did not recognize and an old-fashioned polygraph machine.
He got over himself quickly and heard Calvin's booming voice fill the warehouse. "We're Back! Now it is time for your final test. I can tell that you are nervous, but this one is probably going to be one of the easiest ones that you will ever have to complete. I am going to ask you several questions with only two answers available: yes and no." James nodded and Calvin continued, "Give us 5 minutes and Roxanne will call you into the den for questioning. This whole thing should last only 30 minutes but that depends on you." He then disappeared into the den.
A few minutes passed and Roxanne called James into the den. "We are ready." James nodded and headed into the room. Upon entering, James noticed Calvin's face in Shadow, and Andreas standing in the sole light. James sat down and was hooked up to the machine. He thought back to his training, took a deep breath and the questioning began.
The questions ranged from his time in the military to his personal life. Multiple hours passed and the questioning continued. The emotions that ran through his head were relentless, although he was trained in keeping everything in check. He just kept answering the questions as true to himself as possible.
Over 3 hours passed and Calvin had said. You are done with your final test. As far as I could tell, and I am a good judge of character, you were telling the truth. Now go home and rest up. Tomorrow is a big day for some of us.
***
After he was dismissed, Detective Ramirez walked to his apartment that was about a 2-minute walk from the warehouse. When he was out of sight of the complex, he called Tony, the director of the operation on com. "Tony, I have passed the series of tests to be a part of Calvin's team. Are you free to meet?" He did not wait for a response because he was afraid that he would have a tail now that it seemed that he was in. "20 minutes at the cat"
"OK see you there"
Exactly 20 minutes passed and Tony had arrived at the Hopcat Brewpub. Tony sat in one booth and Ramirez sat at other facing opposite directions because they were still close to the warehouse. Tony spoke into the Com, partially whispering, "Congrats man on getting in. Very well deserved too.
"Thanks." Whispered the detective, "Now what are we going to do about it."
"I suggest that we make our move when they show you the plan," whispered Tony.
"That could work." Replied the detective. "On one condition: we get Andreas out of there too. I will need to get a message to Kevin someway though. the kid is in kind of rough condition."
"How do you suggest we do that?" asked Tony.
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